Microsoft to feature WebTrader stock trading platform on MSN

Saxo Bank service offered to individual traders

Microsoft and Saxo Bank have launched a new online platform for individual traders. The system is Saxo’s existing WebTrader platform, and will appear on Microsoft’s MSN Money website, which attracts 1.2 million visitors a month, as MSN Trader.

By opening an account in MSN Trader, customers then also become clients of Saxo Bank.

The platform offers individual retail investors functionalities that were previously only available to professional investors, such as more in-depth analysis and improved research tools.

Saxo’s WebTrader platform allows investors to trade over 11,000 single stocks on 23 global exchanges. Investors can also compare investment opportunities of global companies and the platform provides three years’ forecasts of aggregated estimates and recommendations from analysts.

At present, MSN Trader is only open to the UK, and the minimum initial deposit to set up an account is £1,000. A trade of up to £8,000 costs £8, with amounts larger than £8,000 costing 0.1 percent of the trade.

According to the Financial Times, the £8 charge undercuts the average commission (£14) at trading services firms.